Attack on Titan The Final Season Part 2

Episode 81

”What the world feared more than anything has happened.”

After two incredibly intense and revelatory weeks spent with Zeke and Eren inside of “The Coordinate Where All Paths Intersect”, Attack on Titan has finally returned to the real world, as it were, and things on the ground are not looking good. Not only do Eldians all over the globe have to contend with Eren Yeager's apocalyptic gospel, but now that the Walls of Paradis have come down for good, the Titans are running amok, killing Marleyan and Eldian alike. In many ways, the focus on human vs. Titan warfare has “Thaw” hearkening back to some of the earliest days of Attack on Titan – the simpler days, where every episode was a grim fight for survival against an impossibly dangerous enemy, but everyone knew where they stood: Kill, or be eaten.

Of course, the world of The Final Season couldn't be more different from those long-ago days when Eren, Mikasa, and Armin had only just graduated from basic training. The soldiers on the ground now know the truth of the Titans, and they know that the ones currently ravaging the city were, just minutes ago, their loyal comrades. Worse yet, our one-time hero has transformed himself into the Devil to End All Devils, a harbinger of global genocide that will kill every living creature beyond the shores of Paradis…unless his friends decide that he must be stopped, that is. The line between friend and enemy is getting more fraught by the second, and the doomsday clock has just struck midnight. There is no time left. Naturally, this means that nobody knows what the right choice is in this horrifying scenario, so the parts of “Thaw” that aren't concerned with monster-slaying spend time having the characters essentially debate the core themes of the show, even as those themes are taking shape all around them.

It's similar to what we had in the early episodes of The Final Season Part 2, except now the prospects are somehow even more grim. Jean seems resigned to let Eren's apocalypse happen, since regardless of the unforgivable nature of the crime, it may truly lead to peace, in the end. Armin, the avatar of morality that he is, refuses to accept that global genocide could possibly be a justifiable means to any end. Connie just wants the chance to release his mother from the hell she's been stuck in all of these years, and he's perfectly willing to kill poor Falco to make that happen. Even Gabi has her chance to express regret for the folly of her bigotry and blind nationalism, now that she's seen the error of her ways, and Niccolo gets the opportunity to call back to the powerful monologue that Mr. Braus gave last season, when he mourned the children who were lost to the world's endless wars, hoping that one day mankind would collectively make its way out of that dark forest of hatred for good.

None of this thematic work is exactly subtle, but when your main character has just turned himself into an Eldritch death god that is hellbent on world murder, there's only so much you can do. Besides, the excellent character work is really needed in “Thaw”, since this is also the first episode that I can recall in this whole batch of MAPPA productions that is seriously straining to keep itself together. Thankfully, most of the wonky art and animation is evident in the establishing shots and more transitionary scenes—big set pieces like Gabi's Titan kill and the ODM battle get a lot more attention—but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little distracted by some of the weak visuals on display.

Still, when the moments hit this week, they hit. The tragic ends of Pyxis and Nile drive home how terrible and indiscriminate the death and destruction have become, even as we allow ourselves opportunities to celebrate what victories can be found. Gabi gets some of her best material of the whole Final Season; her complete breakdown in the face of Falco's imminent death is heartbreaking, but it also shows how far she has come. Her character arc stands as one of the best in all of Attack on Titan, and I hope she has a chance at some peace by the time her journey is done.

What has me the most excited, though, is the final reveal of the episode: Since Eren has thawed all of the Titan hardening on Paradis, that means that Annie is awake at last, and boy does she have quite a bit of catching up to do. Ever since I got to see the excellent noir-tinged two-part ODA that features Annie at its center, I have realized how much I appreciate her character, and I am eager to see what her big return means for Attack on Titan's climax. If nothing else, we'll have one more fallen hero who will be forced to make some incredibly difficult decisions in the wake of Eren's ultimatum. Bad news for the characters, but great news for any of us who are chomping at the bit to see how this story will end.

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Attack on Titan The Final Season Part 2 is currently streaming on Crunchyroll and Funimation.

James is a writer with many thoughts and feelings about anime and other pop-culture, which can also be found on Twitter, his blog, and his podcast.